1001 Albums Summary

She just goes off, and It's at its best when backed with those incesent funky grooves, though the albums lyrical themes, vocal style, and very 90s guitars and production do get a bit tiring by the end.

A filling serving of meaty guitar passages laced with baroque pop elements. From the the parlor piano on Chemical World, to the scattered woodwinds and lush string arrangements elsewhere, it holds attention across its 14 tracks. Though drawing from across the British guitar pop spectrum, it remains grounded by its chugging guitars, fizzy passages, and dense grooves, like on standout track Advert, with its cheeky cynical lyrics. In Britpop fashion the vocals veer a bit too Colin Newman/Wire-esque, somewhere between board and pretentious - yet the pure power(pop) of the tracks here stand as a testament in and of themselves. While still sounding fresh, some might find the overall density of the album a bit tiring.

The album's title implies a dreamy abstract atmosphere that is well captured in the very organic instrumentation, yet the lyrics and vocal delivery are what loose it for me. The strident bluesy vocals overpower the more serene jazz and folksy backing, and the lyrical themes I find largely uninteresting, though the story telling on Maddam George seems it's most inspired. Knowing that in just a few years we would get the likes of John Cale and Scott Walker deadens any impact, knowing that they would do more with the same abstract mix of pop, rock, and classical. It is possible here to hear the precursors of the likes of Talk Talk through the more mellow organic instrumentation, particularly in the few areas here were the vocals hang back then surge forward. In the late 60s, there was a better other Morrison on offer.